Doll sound mechanism



C. AYALA AL 3,494,323

DOLL SOUND MECHANISM Feb. 10, 1970 Filed Feb; 9, 1967 '0 00 I I I I 1! mvsmaas CARL A Y4 LA LEON/0 KP/PAK MAPWA A 644 55 United States Patent 3,494,323 DOLL SOUND MECHANISM Carl Ayala and Marvin I. Glass, Chicago, and Leonid Kripak, Villa Park, Ill., assignors to Marvin Glass & Associates, Chicago, 111., a partnership Filed Feb. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 614,912 Int. Cl. A63h /00; Gk 9/00, 9/04 U.S. Cl. 116-139 5 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Background of the invention Dolls are known in which sounds are produced by the action of some sort of bellows within the doll, the air from which sounds a reed which is audible from outside the doll. Such arrangements have been made to articulate the sound so as to pronounce ma-ma and the like, and the bellow has been worked by direct manual pressure, springs, gravity and other forces. In the present invention the sound device (reed) is actuated by a novel mechanism which actuates it in a manner to produce a laughing or giggling sound.

The principal object of the invention is to produce a doll which when properly manipulated will produce a series of short repetitive sounds of diminishing loudness, characteristic of the laughing of a small child. A further object is to provide such a doll in which the manipulation will also cause realistic and characteristic movements of the head. Further objects and advantages will become apparent from the following specification and accompanying drawings.

Summary of the invention A sound mechanism for a doll or the like, comprising a housing, an air-responsive sound device within the housing, movable means associated with said housing and operable to create a flow of air through the housing to actuate the sound device, a vibratory spring element including a portion in position to engage and effect movement of said movable means, and means for causing vibration of the vibratory element.

Brief description of the drawings FIGURE 1 is a front view of such a doll;

FIGURE 2 is a left side view of the same with the arms in a different position;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the doll, axially through the neck and shoulders;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical sectional view substantially on the line 44 of FIGURE 3; and

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal sectional view substantially on the line 5--5 of FIGURE 3.

The doll comprises a body or torso portion 10 having a head 12, arms 14 and 16 including generally spherical shoulder portion 18 and 20 seated in torso 10 for limited swinging movement in any direction. Shoulder portion 18 has an extension 22, preferably tubular, for a purpose to appear, and shoulder portion 20 ha a similar extension 24, in one position of the parts aligned with extension 22. A suitable tension member, preferably a rubber band 3,494,323 Patented Feb. 10, 1970 ice 26, is stretched between pins 28 and 30, respectively fixed in extensions 22 and 24, and serves to hold shoulder portion 18 and 20 seated in torso 10 while allowing swinging movement of the arms in any direction, and which movement in certain directions will initiate the laughing sound as will appear.

The sound itself is produced by a reed 32, best seen in FIGURE 4, fixed in a reed plate 34, in turn fixed in a sound box or air chamber 36, formed as a part of torso 10. Openings as 38 allow the escape of air and sound from the body. Spaced inwardly from reed plate 34, a flexible diaphragm 40 closes the end of sound box 36 and acts as a bellows to supply air to reed 32. A plunger 42 is slidably supported in a head member 44 fixed on sound box 36 beyond diaphragm 40, and the plunger has an enlarged button portion 46 disposed between head 44 and diaphragm 40. The button is gently pressed against the diaphragm by a leaf spring 48 rigidly fixed as by screws 50 on a boss 52 formed as part of torso 10. Spring 48 has fixed thereto, spaced substantially from boss 52 and beyond plunger 42, a considerable weight 54 by reason of which, if spring 48 i set into vibration, the vibratory period will correspond substantially to the frequency of repitition of sounds of a giggling youngster.

As will now be apparent, vibration of the spring will work plunger 42 back and forth, causing an in-an-out movement of diaphragm 40, the resiliency of the diaphragm causing leftward movement of button 46 and plunger 42 when spring 48 swing to the left as seen in FIGURE 4, and the spring causing rightward movement thereof when it swings to the right, thereby causing a breathing movement of the diaphragm which will result in a pulsating flow of air in and out of sound box 36 past reed 32. I

It is to be noted that the flow of air in one direction past reed 32 may cause a quite different sound than the How in the other direction, adding to the effect of the rapidly repeated sounds. Spring 48 is set in motion by manipulation of arms 18 and 20, as will now be described.

Extension 22 of shoulder portion 18 extends through a slot or opening 56 in a yoke element generally designated as 58 and which has a downwardly directed leg 60 in which slot 56 is located. Yoke 58 also has an upper generally horizontal portion 62, and a downwardly directed leg 64. Leg 64 is slotted in a manner similar to leg 60, for reception of extension 24, but also has a downward extension 66 beyond the slot, terminating in a point portion 68. Yoke 58 is pivotally supported by pins 69 and 70, respectively on legs 60 and 64, spaced downwardly slightly from portion 62, and journaled in suitable bosses within torso 10.

Generous clearance is provided about extensions 22 and 24 in the slots in legs 60' and 64, so that arms 14 and 16 can be swung without binding of the extensions in the slots, but if the arms are manipulated in a pat-a-cake manner, so that the extensions swing in a horizontal plane, as seen in FIGURES 3 and 4, legs 60 and 64 will be caused to swing about pivot pins 69 and 70, and point portion 68 will be caused to move toward or away from the observer in FIGURE 3. In doing so it will be traveling in a path to contact spring 48, bend it out of its normal position and release it, much after the manner of plucking a stringed instrument, thereby setting up the hereinbefore described vibration of the spring to produce the giggling sound.

Head portion 12 has a downwardly directed neck portion 72 which is closed at its lower end by an insert 74 projecting below neck 72 and providing a peripheral groove 76 within which are received the upper extremities of the walls of body 10, so that head 12 is connected to body 10 but is relatively freely movable in any direc tion. Insert 74 has a slot 78 (FIGURE 5) through which extends an upwardly directed finger 80 fixed on portion 62 of yoke 58 so as to swing forwardly and backwardly by reason of swinging of yoke 58. At its upper end finger 80 has an enlarged portion 82 freely engaged in a recess 84 in the upper portion of the interior of head 12, so that the rocking motion of finger 80 will cause a nodding of head 12. Portion 62 of yoke 58 also has a pin 86 extending upwardly into an offset portion of slot 78, displaced from finger 80 and from the center about which insert 74 is rotatable in body It), for turning head 12 from side to side by reason of swinging of yoke 58.

The lower portion of body has openings 88 and 90 in which legs for the doll may be secured in any wellknown manner.

The operation of the invention is thought to be clear from the above, sufl'lcient to say, arms 14 and 16 of the doll may be swung forwardly and backwardly, turning about the centers of extensions 22 and 24 Without affecting yoke 58. However, if the arms are first swung forwardly, for example, so as to be generally transverse to torso It), and then swung toward and away from each other in the familiar pat-a-cake fashion, extensions 22 and 24 will be moved away from and toward the observer in FIGURE 3, swinging yoke 58 away from and toward the observer in similar manner. As best seen in FIGURE 4, this movement will cause point portion 68 to engage spring 48 and bend or spring it substantially out of the position which it occupies when at rest. If the movement is continued far enough, point 68 will escape from contact with spring 48, and the latter will be released to vibrate freely at the rate determined by weight 54.

While this action is analogous to the plucking of the strings in a stringed instrument, it should be understood that no appreciable sound is produced by the plucking action, the sound coming entirely from the vibration of the reed caused by the flow of air set up by the vibration of spring 48 acting on the diaphragm 40. The vibration of the spring will cause a corresponding in-and-out movement of plunger 42 causing corresponding movement of diaphragm 40. Such movement will cause intermittent movement of air past reed 32, producing the desired laughing or giggling sound.

It is to be noted that point portion 68 must be moved far enough to escape from spring 48 in order to set up the vibration. If the movement is insuflicient, the giggling sound will not be produced. Furthermore, if point portion 68 is on one side of spring 48 the movement must be toward the other side of the spring. Otherwise the point will merely move away from the spring and no sound will be produced. Thus there is a certain element of chance in playing with the doll, whether it will laugh or not, thus enhancing the attractiveness of the doll, and the interest which will be engendered in playing with it. It being understood, of course, that the usual pat-acake motion of the dolls arms will actuate the described sound mechanism.

As the arms are manipulated to rock yoke 58, head 12 will nod back and forth while turning also from side to side, to thereby move somewhat diagonally across the vertical axis of the doll and simulate the motion of a shy child.

Although the invention has been described in connection with specific device, it is to be understood that modifications are likely to occur to others working in this field, for example, the connection of either arm 14 or arm 16 to yoke 58 would be omitted, either arm being sufficient by itself to actuate the yoke, and such modifications could be made without departing from the principles involved.

What is claimed is:

1. A sound mechanism comprising a housing having an opening in one end thereof to permit the passage of air therefrom, an air-responsive sounding device disposed in said housing transversely of the path of air through said housing, a flexible, resilient membrane fixed to the other end of said housing, a plunger disposed externally of the housing for engagement with said flexible membrane, said plunger including a stern portion and being disposed for movement generally axially of said housing, and an elongated spring member fixed at one end relative to said housing and having its other end free, said spring member being operable to oscillate relative to a plane generally normal to the path of movement of said plunger in engagement with said plunger, said spring member, plunger and flexible diaphragm being arranged so that oscillation of said spring causes said plunger to move back and forth and effect axial fore and aft movement of the center portion of the diaphragm with respect to said housing, and manually operated means movable through a path of striking engagement with said other end of said spring member so as to flex said spring member and then release it for free oscillating movement, whereby said spring member oscillates at a diminishing rate while engaging said plunger, so that pulsating currents of air are established in said housing resulting in intermittent operation of said sound device at a diminishing rate of frequency.

2. A sound mechanism as set forth in claim 1, wherein said sounding device comprises a vibratable reed and said pulsating currents of air in said housing result in a change in pitch of the sound produced by said reed as the rate of vibration of said element varies.

3. A sound mechanism for a doll or the like comprising a housing supported within the doll and having an opening in one end thereof in communication with the exterior of said doll to permit an exchange of air between said housing and said exterior, a sounding device carried by said housing and disposed transversely of the path of air through said housing and including a vibratory reed, a flexible resilient membrane fixed to the other end of said housing in covering relation thereto, a plunger disposed externally of the housing in engagement with said flexible membrane, said plunger including a stem portion and being supported for movement generally axially of said housing, an elongated spring member fixed at one end within said doll and having a portion positioned to engage said plunger, the other end of said spring being free and said spring being adapted to oscillate relative to a plane generally normal to the path of movement of said plunger, said spring member, plunger and flexible diaphragm being arranged so that oscillation of said spring causes said plunger to move back and forth and effect flexing movement of the center portion of the diaphragm, whereby pulsating currents of air are established in said housing resulting in intermittent operation of said sound device, and manually operated means supported on said doll which is movable through a path of striking engagement with said other end of said spring member so as to flex said spring member and then release it for free oscillating movement resulting in intermittent operation of said sounding device.

4. A sound mechanism for a doll or the like as set forth in claim 3, wherein said doll includes a body portion and relatively movable limb portions, and wherein one of said limb portions comprises a part of said manually operated means which is disposed to strike the free end of said spring member and effect oscillation of the latter as said limb portion is moved.

5. A doll comprising a body portion, a pair of arms and legs each mounted on the body for relative movement, a head movably mounted on the upper portion of said body, a sound mechanism supported in said body and comprising a housing, an air-responsive sound device supported within said housing, movable means carried by said housing and operable to create a flow of air through said housing to actuate said sound device, a vibratory, elongated spring element supported at its lower end on said doll body and including a portion in position to engage and effect movement of said movable means,

means for causing free oscillation of said vibratory element, said last mentioned means comprising a yoke-like element pivotally mounted in the upper portion of said body and including a depending portion in position to releasably strike the upper end of said vibratory spring element so as to flex said spring and then release it for free oscillating movement, means fixed to said yoke-like element and extending upwardly therefrom to engagement with an upper portion of said head, and means connecting one of said movable arms with said yoke-like element whereby movement of said one arm can efiect swinging motion of the yoke-like element and cause said depending portion of the yoke-like element to strike said vibratory element and cause it to oscillate so as to move said movable means and actuate said sound device and 1 so as to also cause said head to move relative to said body.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FOREIGN PATENTS 8/1913 Great Britain. 6/1913 France.

LOUIS J. CAPOZI, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

